206 HISTORY OF THE 



county of Suffolk, and the parish of All Saints in 

 the county of Cambridge, thirteen miles N.E. by E. 

 from Cambridge, and sixty-one N.N.E. from Lon- 

 don on the road to Norwich. It contains between 

 2000 and 3000 inhabitants. This town was first 

 brought into notice in the year 1227,"^ when it 

 derived its name from the removal of a newly 

 established market from the neighbouring village 

 of Euning, on account of the plague raging there. 

 James I. built a house there, for the purpose of 

 enjoying the diversion of hunting. The celebrity of 

 Newmarket was greatly increased by Charles II., 

 who rebuilt the king's house, which had fallen 

 into decay during the civil wars, and frequently 

 attended the races on Newmarket Heath, with his 

 brother, the Duke of York (afterwards James 



ii).t 



On the 22nd of March, 1683, daring the races, 

 at which the King, Queen, and Duke of York 

 were present, a sudden conflagration compelled 

 them to return hastily to London, to which event 

 the defeat of the Rye-house plot has been attri- 

 buted. J 



* Cart. II. Henry III. 



f Three farces are still extant which were acted before this monarch 

 and his court at Newmarket. They are '* The merry milkmaid of Is- 

 lington ; or, the rambling gallants defeated." " Love lost in the dark ; 



or, the drunken couple." " The politick w e ; or, the conceited 



cuckold." They were published together by D. Brown, in 1680, 

 under the title of " The Muse pf Newmarket." 



X Spratt's History of the Rye-house plot. 



